Pretty Harsh...But Sadly...Too Often True...

My AW Tozer devo for today...

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The business of the Church is God. She is purest when most
engaged with God and she is astray just so far as she follows
other interests, no matter how "religious" or humanitarian they
may be.

The Set of the Sail, 80.


July 8

The Church: Activities

Til I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.
--1 Timothy 4:13

In an effort to get the work of the Lord done we often lose contact
with the Lord of the work and quite literally wear our people out
as well. I have heard more than one pastor boast that his church
was a "live" one, pointing to the printed calendar as a proof--
something on every night and several meetings during the day. Of
course this proves nothing except that the pastor and the church are
being guided by a bad spiritual philosophy. A great many of these
time-consuming activities are useless and others plain ridiculous.
"But," say the eager beavers who run the religious squirrel cages,
"they provide fellowship and they hold our people together."

To this I reply that what they provide is not fellowship at all, and
if that is the best thing the church has to offer to hold the people
together it is not a Christian church in the New Testament meaning
of that word. The center of attraction in a true church is the Lord
Jesus Christ....

If the many activities engaged in by the average church led to the
salvation of sinners or the perfecting of believers they would
justify themselves easily and triumphantly; but they do not. My
observations have led me to the belief that many, perhaps most, of
the activities engaged in by the average church do not contribute in
any way to the accomplishing of the true work of Christ on earth. I
hope I am wrong, but I am afraid I am right.

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